An anti-WikiLeaks hacking group has taken credit for launching a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the Russian news site RT.com.

The organization, which calls itself Anti Leaks, today tweeted out to followers that it was "behind the DDoS attack on RT.com." Although the organization didn't explicitly say why it decided to attack RT, it included in its tweet a "#FreePussyRiot" hashtag.

The hashtag refers to the name of a Russian, all-female punk rock band. The band members were arrested in March after performing a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral, requesting the Virgin Mary save Russia from president Vladimir Putin. A judge today sentenced all three members to two years in prison for their dissent.

The arrest and subsequent sentencing has lit a firestorm across the world over individual rights in Russia. Anti Leaks has come out in support of the band.

For its part, RT has confirmed that its site "went down for hours worldwide" today. The site is now back up and running, and the news service has posted a story pointing to Anti Leaks' admission.

Anti Leaks is one of the newer hacking groups to come on a scene popularized by Anonymous. However, unlike Anonymous, which has in the past expressed support for WikiLeaks, Anti Leaks has spoken out against the organization and launched a DDoS attack on the site earlier this month.

"Tango down wikileaks.org," the company wrote on Twitter on August 3.

WikiLeaks condemned the attack on RT today, saying that the news outlet "is an important alternative voice in the west."

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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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